The British E-class submarines started out as improved versions of the British D-class submarine. The E class served with the Royal Navy throughout World War I as the backbone of the submarine fleet. The last surviving E class submarines were withdrawn from service by 1922.
All of the first group and some of the second group of the class were completed before the outbreak of World War I. The group 1 boats cost £101,900 per hull. As submarine technology improved, the E class went through several design modifications. The group 2 boats cost £105,700 per hull. The group 3 boats, the last group, incorporated all improvements.
The class primarily served in the North Sea and the Baltic, while some served with Russian ships in Russian coastal waters before their crews scuttled the submarines to avoid them falling into the hands of the Germans after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended fighting between Germany and Russia. Additionally, some of the submarines operated against the Turks.
E18 – Launched 4 March 1915. Mined & sunk in the Baltic Sea close to the Estonian island of Hiiumaa, possibly on 2 June 1916.[1]
E19 – Launched 13 May 1915.
E20 – Launched 12 June 1915. Torpedoed on 5 November 1915 in the Dardanelles.
Group 3
E21 – Launched 24 July 1915.
E22 – Launched 27 August 1915. In 1916 fitted as aircraft carrier for two Sopwith Baby floatplanes. Torpedoed and sunk in North Sea off Great Yarmouth while on surface by German U-boat, 25 April 1916.
E23 – Launched 28 September 1915.
E24 – Launched 9 December 1915. Minelayer. Conning preserved at a museum in Cuxhaven.
E25 – Launched 23 August 1915.
E26 – Launched 11 November 1915. Lost on 6 July 1916.
E27 – Launched 9 June 1917.
HMS E28 was cancelled on 20 April 1915.
E29 – Launched 1 June 1915.
E30 – Launched 29 June 1915. Lost on 22 November 1916.
E31 – Launched 23 August 1915.
E32 – Launched 16 August 1916.
E33 – Launched 18 April 1916.
E34 – Launched 27 January 1917. Minelayer. Mined off the Frisian Islands 20 July 1918.
E35 – Launched 20 May 1916.
E36 – Launched 16 September 1916. Lost on 17 January 1917.
E37 – Launched 2 September 1915. Lost on 1 December 1916.
E38 – Launched 13 June 1916.
E39 – Launched 18 May 1916.
E40 – Launched 9 November 1916.
E41 – Launched 22 October 1915. Minelayer.
E42 – Launched 22 October 1915.
E43 – Launched 11 November 1915.
E44 – Launched 21 February 1916.
E45 – Launched 25 January 1916. Minelayer.
E46 – Launched 4 April 1916. Minelayer.
E47 – Launched 29 May 1916. Lost on 20 August 1917.
E48 – Launched 2 August 1916.
E49 – Launched 18 September 1916. Mined & sunk near Huney in the Shetland Islands, 12 March 1917.